AZUSA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball was unable to overcome a slow start in an 89-72 loss to Azusa Pacific Saturday afternoon at the Felix Events Center.
Jerusha Paine led the Penguins (9-15, 6-12 PacWest) with 26 points and 14 rebounds to move her double-double total to 13 on the season.
Brittney Cedeno added a career-high 22 points on 6-for-8 shooting from behind the arc to go with six rebounds and two steals.
The Cougars (20-4, 14-4 PacWest) rode the sharp-shooting of Savanna Hanson who finished with 27 points on 5-for-7 3-point shooting. Molly Whitmore added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Azusa Pacific created its separation with 29 points off turnovers with 15 steals on the day.
Cedeno sank an early 3-pointer to spark a 6-0 Dominican run to take a two-point advantage in the first three minutes of the game. Hanson answered the run with a 3-pointer of her own and the Cougars used a 12-0 run to build a 17-6 advantage with three minutes left in the quarter. The teams traded baskets until Zoe March beat the buzzer on a layup to give APU the 23-11 advantage heading to the second.
Jessica Armstrong and Paine pounded the paint for the Penguins to start the second quarter as they cut the deficit to seven in the first two minutes. The Cougars responded as Cierra Roufosse sparked a 9-2 run with four points and two blocks to take the 13-point lead heading to the final four minutes of the half. Paine scored four unanswered to get Dominican back within single digits, but Laura Pranger hit a 3-pointer to send APU into the break with a 45-33 lead.
Camryn Figueroa and
Sydney Larocca got the Penguins off to a strong start in the second half with four quick points to get back within single digits, but APU went on a 14-2 run and Daylee Hanson gave them a lead of 20 on a layup with 5:31 remaining in the quarter. Larocca sparked a 7-point Dominican run to get back within striking distance, but Alex Lowden scored five points for the Cougars in their own 7-0 run to push the lead to 66-48 heading to the fourth.
Dominican was unable to get any momentum going in the final quarter as the teams traded buckets for the first eight minutes. Cedeno capped a 5-0 run with a 3-pointer to make it 86-72 heading to the final minute, but it was too late for a comeback.
The Penguins will conclude their brief trip to Southern California on Monday as they face Concordia University Irvine at 5:30 p.m. PST at CU Arena. Live stats and video will be available online.
